five-ingredient flourless peanut butter cookies. Featured

Go ahead and call me naive –– it’s cool. Of course, I know there are some not-so-nice-people out there too. However, it’s my belief that in most cases if you treat people with love and respect, then their intentions will be good natured in return.

I’ve had this experience several times this week –– proof to my theory, if you will.

On one such occasion, my youngest brother, Isaac, and I traveled to my gym together to get in a nice, sweaty workout. As we were pumping some iron, he couldn’t help but point out the size of one man’s biceps: “I want arms like his,” he said.

I was familiar with man-with-the-admirable-biceps. His name is Lawrence and he works at my gym as a personal trainer. I motioned for him to come talk to us and I told him of my brother’s wish for bulging biceps. “Come with me, my man,” he said, as he put his hand on my brother’s shoulder and guided him over to the free weights.

Thirty heart-pumping minutes later, Isaac looked at me with a look that screamed, “What the hell did you get me into?!” Still, his satisfaction with his workout was more than evident as he grinned and shook hands with Lawrence. This man had reached out to my growing and maturing seventeen-year-old brother, and shown him how the kindness of a stranger can touch a life in a matter of a few simple minutes.

Isaac and I said thank you and headed home, both of us smiling ear-to-ear.

So, last night I made Lawrence his cookies. I found this gluten-free recipe on Gluten Free Girl’s site, added a few small touches and baked them with the same amount of kindness Lawrence had shown my baby brother.

Here’s to smiling as you cross paths with a stranger on the street, picking up a dropped item for a shopper whose hands are much too full, and placing your hand on the back of a downtrodden man or woman just because you can …

by The G-Spot

Keywords: bake cookies dessert peanut butter cookie

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup creamy peanut butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 egg

Garnish with sugar crystals

NOTE

Be sure to check specific manufacturers’ listings for gluten-free assurance.

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a baking sheet by lining with parchment paper or baking mat like this).

Using a standing or electric mixer (you can also mix by hand), cream the peanut butter and sugar. Slowly add the baking powder and vanilla. Add the egg and mix until thoroughly combined.

Use a small spoon or melon ball scoop to form dough balls that are approximately the size of a Tablespoon. Press the top of each cookie with a fork to form a crisscross pattern on top.

Sprinkle the tops of each cookies with sugar and place in oven to bake for 10 minutes. Allow the cookies to sit on the pan for 5-6 minutes until they settle. Remove from the pan with a spatula and place them on a wire rack to cool completely.